Cooling of rolls and the like



United States Patent 121 Inventors Ilagh win-m Greatel; [$6] am can J MM M, M M unmzo sn'rss PATENTS [2 I 1 No %2,';;':"' m :uoznsv 7/1965 Diolet 72/236 Filed "b. n, 19 3.357324 l2-/l967 Muller 72/20l [45] Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Primary Erammer- Robert A. O'Leary I 73] Assignee The Steel Company Wale M Assistant Exnnriner-Theophil W. Streule QG m Soun- Wales, AIMmey-Kral'ftk Wells Great Irltala [32] Priority Feb. 28. 1967 [33] Great Britain I No. 45833! AISI'IACT: Cooling apparatus for a rolling mill roll comprises a cooling member adapted to extend across at least part of the width of the roll, said member having a facecarrying [54] COOLING lous AND THE pad means and a plurality of moves or passageways in said 6 Ch 4 Drank Figs.

pad means. The arrangement being such that with the member 52] Us, (l 165/: biased so that the pad means contact the roll, cooling liquid 72/20! l'lovlin; within the grooves and passageways is in contact with [51 Int. P285102 the roll surface. The member is preferably arcuate and the pad [50] Field ofSear-ch 72/236, means preferably comprises as plastics material such as nylon Patented Nov. 17, 1970 3,540,527

Sheet Z of3 wwazvroes Hugh Wf/lmoff Grenfe/I Jack Michael Moore By W b" ZULZZL A TTORNEYS Sheet L of 3 IN VE N TORS' Hugh W/l/moH Grenfe/l Jack Michael Moore ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Sheet 3 of 3 INVENTORSI Hugh Wi/lmoh Grenf'el/ Jack Michael Maare Q Q a L 8 By if YUM -ATTORNEYS COOLING F ROLLS AND THE LIKE This invention relates to cooling and lubricating arrangements for rolls and the like. The invention is concerned with rolls as used in the hot or cold rolling of metals and which, in use, eventually become so hot that the surface of the rolls breaks up. Although the invention is particularly concerned with the cooling of rolls, it is to be understood that the invention is equally applicable to the cooling or lubrication of any continuously or intermittently moving surface.

It is well known that if the work rolls on a hot rolling mill are not adequately cooled during use, the surface of the rolls will eventually become so hot that it will break up. Heretofore, the surface of the rolls has been subject to spray cooling with water but even so fire cracking" or surface cracking has still occurred and it is thought that the poor cooling is caused by the water droplets, which have a high velocity bouncing off of the roll surface before any significant cooling occurs. Furthermore, a steam film may form on the surface of the roll and if this occurs, the film tends to act as an insulating layer between the surface of the roll and water substantially spread upon it.

It has also been found that in a'hot rolling mill, the spraying ofwater onto a moving roll results in a considerable amount of spray bouncing off of the roll and into the roll bearings carrying with it scale from the slab of hot metal being rolled. This scale tends to mingle with the oil in the bearing and results in rapid wear.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for cooling and/or lubricating a roll or like device which apparatus comprises a cooling member adapted to extend across at least part of the width of the roll, means for maintaining said member in contact with said roll, pad means carried by said member and adapted to abut the rolled surface, a plurality of grooves or passageways providing in said pad means and if desired in said member, and means for providing a flow of fluid within said groove 0r passageway, said grooves or passageways being open in the surface of the pad means adapted to abut the roll, the arrangement being such that in operation fluid flowing within said grooves or passageways is in contact with the surface of said roll.

The cooling member may extend the complete width of the roll and may comprise a longitudinal arcuate member. The means for maintaining the cooling member in contact with the roll surface may be a spring which urges themember into abutting contact with the roll.

The pad means for the roll may be formed of a synthetic plastics material such for example as Nylon 66. The grooves in the abutting surface of the cooling member and the pad means carried thereby may comprise a plurality of longitudinally extending grooves disposed in rows and separated by pad spacers which are adapted to abut the surface of the roll. Each row may comprise a plurality of grooves and each groove may be defined about its periphery by a pad spacer and may be provided with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet the arrangement being such that the fluid enters said member via an inlet conduit at one end and passes through a groove to the other end and out of the member via an outlet conduit. The grooves may be connected in parallel" between an inlet conduit and an outlet conduit. The apparatus of the present invention is particularly adapted to act as a mechanical scraper, and additional scraper or wiper blades extending longitudinally of the member may be provided in each groove or passageway intermediate the longitudinal spacer pads defining the groove. The blade or blades act to scrape any steam film from the surface which may form during cooling by a flow of water within the grooves. This feature of the invention of scraped heat transfer has been found to give far higher cooling rates.

Following is a description by way of example of a specific embodiment of the present invention as applied to a work roll as used in the hot rolling mill for the manufacture of steel strip.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cooling apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic section through a work roll and cooling rig in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a face view of a cooling member of the apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a section along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

The rolling mill (see FIG. 2) comprises a pair of work rolls 10 and 10 adapted to act upon a strip 1!. passing the nip of rolls 10, 10' in the direction indicated. The work rolls 10, iii are each loaded by a backup roll 12. Adjacent the work roll there is provided a support member 13 having a bracket i4 adapted to carry a guide secured to bracket 14 and projecting away from support 13 towards the cylindrical surface of the work roll 10 so that during rolling should the strip 1. passing between the nip of the work rolls if) and 10 adhere to the surface of the work roll 10, the strip will be deflected by projecting guide 15 back to its normal line of travel.

The support 13 carries upwardly of bracket 14, a pair of spaced header brackets disposed at or towards the outer extremities of the work roll 10. Each bracket carries a support 21 which comprises a rectangular box member 22 formed of a pair of spaced sides 23 joined to a pair of spaced ends 24. Each of ends 24 is provided with a bore adapted to receive an elongate rod 25. The box member 22 accommodates a spring 26 disposed between the rear end 24' and an abutment 27 provided on rod within the box.

The rod 25 carries at its forward end an elongate arcuate body member 30 and rod 25 is threaded at its rearward end and carries abutment 27 threadably engaged therewith. the an rangement being such that with support member 21 secured to header bracket 20, rotation of abutment 27 permits adjustment of the loading applied to rod 25 and the bias applied to,

member 30 to hold it into abutting relationship with work roll 10.

The member 30 comprises four elongate substantially rectangular conduits 31, 32, 33 and 34. The conduits extend longitudinally of member 30 and are defined by a U-shaped box element (see FIG. 3) and a backing plate 38. Conduits 31 and 33 are each provided with inlet pipes 36, one being disposed at each end of member 30. Each of conduits 32 and 34 are provided with outlet pipes 37 each at opposite ends to the inlet pipes corresponding to conduits 31 and 33 respectively.

Pairs of conduits 31, 32 and 33, 34 each serve to provide a fluid inlet conduit and a fluid outlet conduit for a row of grooves or passageways in the face of member 30 adapted to abut work roll 10. Each of grooves or passageways 40 is surrounded and defined by a pad spacer 41 secured to the concave surface of backing plate 38. Each groove or passageway 40 is provided with an inlet 42 in backing plate 38 communicating with an inlet conduit 31 and an outlet 43 in backing plate 38 communicating with outlet conduit 32 the arrangement being such that when in contact with a roll, the flow passing along conduit 31 in the direction indicated by the arrows from its inlet pipe 36 passes via inlet conduit 31 through inlet 42 in back plate 38 into the groove or passageway 40 and into the contact with the surface of the roll and circuiates within groove or passageway 40. The fluid with the groove 40 passes out of the groove 40 via outlet 43 into conduit 32 and thence out of the member 30' via outlet 37. Across each groove or passageway 40 is provided four spaced wiper blades extending longitudinally of the member for the purpose hereinafter described. i

In its assembledposition, the member 30 is secured to the header bracket 20 by means of support member 22. and support 21 secured thereto. The threaded abutment 27 is adjusted until the pads 41 on wiper blades 45 abut the cylindrical surface of work roll 10 and are biased thereagainst. The pads and wipers are formed of Nylon 66.and in particular a Nylon commercially available under the Trade Name POLYPENCO NYLON 66.

In use, water is admitted to the grooves and passageways 40 and circulates in the space defined by the surface of the roll the pads 41 and the backing plate 38 ofmember 30, the water being in contact with the surface of the roll 10 to exert cooling action on the surface of said roll. The wiper blades 45 are adapted to provide a scraping action on the surface of the roll as it rotates and serve to break down any steam film which may be formed on the surface thereby improving the cooling of the roll. This formation of a steam film is, of course, instantaneous and as the roll rotates the forward edge of the film is engaged by the cooling fluid and that side of the groove adjacent the trailing edge of the cooling member. In this part of the groove, the water flow is turbulent due to the movement of the roll and this turbulent flow has the effect of breaking up the steam film thus providing efficient cooling of the roll surface by fluid throughout the width of the groove, subsidiary turbulence being provided by virtue of wiper blades 45.

The cooling cycle is repeated as theroll reaches the second cooling groove in its travel and it will be appreciated that the device provides a most efficient and simple cooling system for a'hot roll or other moving device.

The. system may be used in cold rolling where oil could be mixed with the cooling fluid or applied separately and the pads can be adjusted or arranged to leave a thin film of oil upon the work roll.

Ithas been found in practice that a particular cooling member can be used with any one of a number of rolls and does not have to be carefully matched to a particular diameter of work roll.

Any variations in diameter experience from roll to roll is taken up by the resilience of the contact pad 41 and the bias of springs 26.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for cooling a work roll comprising:

A. a cooling member having:

l. a pad means adapted to abut said work roll and defining at least one cooling chamber in common with the roll surface;

2. said cooling chamber having inlet and outlet means for supplying a continuous flow of coolant and/0r lubricant through said chamber and against said roll surface;

. at least one wiper blade extending across said chamber in a direction transverse to the direction of rotation of said roll, said wiper blade defining rows through said chamber and abutting said roll to direct the flow of coolant therethrough and for removing a liquid lamina layer from the roll surface; and

B. means for abutting said wiper blades and pad means against said roll during operation of said roll.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cooling member includes an arcuate longitudinal backing plate extending across a substantial part of the width of said roll and having on its convex side at least two longitudinally disposed conduits.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein the concave side of said plate includes four longitudinal pads definingtwo rows of cooling chambers.-

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said concave side includes a plurality of spaced arcuate pads disposed substantially transverse to said longitudinal pads to define a plu-' rality of cooling chambers.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said rows of cooling chambers are coextensive with said longitudinal conduits.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein at least one of said conduits is connected to a source of coolant and is in communication with said cooling chamber and at least one of said conduits is connected to the outlet of each cooling chamber, said inlets and outlets being spaced apart to provide a flow through the chamber. 

